


Reminiscence

by KindlerOfStars



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Not Beta Read, POV Alternating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:42:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28174137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KindlerOfStars/pseuds/KindlerOfStars
Summary: After getting to know each other in college, Sokka and Zuko are now together.For Zuko, life is good, great even, but not everything is perfect, and the past is not always a source of nostalgia.Thankfully, Sokka is there for him.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 46





	Reminiscence

**Author's Note:**

> Oh would you look at what I found on my WIP folder! A cute but also slightly angsty modern setting Zukka fic? Who knew? 
> 
> It was fun to rediscover it and fix it a bit, hope you all like it!

Zuko honestly didn’t know how long had passed since they sat under the tree, talking and watching over the lake while a breeze ruffled their hair, but it wasn’t important. He didn’t want to be anywhere else, even if his boyfriend talked enough for the two of them.

Sokka got excited about things. Zuko knew it, and thought of it as absolutely endearing. He could ramble for hours about anything, and seemed to not mind his hardly frequent interventions. In fact, Sokka actively used them to sustain the flow of the conversation, softly encouraging him to contribute more. Zuko was familiar with being patronized, opinions discarded out of spite, yet with feeling so significant, not so much. It was... nice.

“-so that was how I somehow managed to do my physics project with an actually interesting theme.”

“You tricked your teacher into choosing skating?”

“It’s not about skating. It’s about the mechanical properties of interfacial water in ice gliding,” Sokka clarified, grinning.

“Uh huh. You and I both know that’s just an elegant academic way to put it.” Ignoring the ensuing cry of protest, he carried on. “Anyway, I thought Mr. Thompson was strict, wasn’t expecting him to let someone choose a theme they’re somewhat familiar with.”

“Oh, he is. I just waited until Friday’s class to submit it, he’s always super busy trying to finish stuff before the weekend. He barely glanced at the name, it’s not exactly my fault,” Sokka explained, ending his tirade in a rather impressive, offended pose.

“And people say I’m the dramatic one,” Zuko said, with a snort.

“Well,” he said, his voice taking on a teasing tone. “You _are_ the figure skater. I’m the hockey player. You are _supposed_ to be the dramatic one.”

Zuko blinked twice. “I’m your boyfriend. How dare you betray me like this,” he deadpanned.

Sokka quickly backtracked. “I love you?”

“I love you too.” He bit the inside of his cheek, trying to maintain an impassive expression. “But that was a terrible save.”

“Frogive me?”

Zuko could take a lot, but he couldn’t take _that_ , finally cracking a smile and chuckling. “A frog pun?” _You’re adorably absurd_. “Seriously Sokka, for Agni’s sake.”

Now, here’s the thing. When Zuko smiled, like actually smiled (which was rare, yet thankfully in Sokka’s view, less so these days), his whole face lit up. The corners of his mouth and eyes crinkled, marked with soft wrinkles of one who’s not used to happiness but who’s thoroughly enjoying themselves in that moment. The mirth reached his eyes, making them gleam like liquid gold in the sunlight.

So, naturally, most of Sokka’s thoughts were an incoherent string of variations of _cute_ and _beautiful._ _Tui and La, I’m that smitten._

After a few seconds of no answer, Zuko’s chuckles dwindled away, and he focused back on his friend, who was staring at him in... awe? Feeling a blush rising to his cheeks, he turned back to facing the surface of the lake.

Sokka did that sometimes. For the umpteenth time, he wondered if he should ask about it. Probably not, yet truth be told, Zuko didn’t know _what else_ to say and apparently his subtlety jumped out of the window sometime along the afternoon. “What?”

From the corner of his vision, Sokka appeared to shake his head. “Huh?”

“You stopped talking suddenly.”

_Well, go big or go home, right?_ “Oh. That. You could say I got distracted with the wonderful view.”

_Huh_. Attractive was a not concept Zuko associated with himself. Few people did, deep down, after seeing him up-close, dismissing initial intentions and slipping into pity, aversion, or some odd mixture of the two. He wasn’t sure which one he hated more. _“Such a handsome boy, such a shame he has that scar.” “Quite a catch, coming from money and everything. If it wasn’t for... you know.”_

“Do you- do you mean that?”

Zuko didn’t move apart from bowing his head marginally, as if either lost in thought or fascinated with the grass under him. That reply had taken him a couple of minutes, which Sokka took as struggling with something, and he had that quietly resigned look he often did, and no, that’s _not good at all_.

“Always. I’ll say it a million times and I won’t mean it any less. Got it?” He started to wrap an arm around Zuko’s shoulders, and finding no intention of moving away, gently pulled him until he rested against his chest.

He felt Zuko relax, snuggling into a comfortable position and sighing.

Sokka almost felt content as it was, getting slightly drowsy with the warmth radiating from his boyfriend in waves, before remembering he hadn’t really got an answer. “Zuko?”

“...yeah. Yeah, I got it.”

They stayed there until the sun had set and the moonlight shimmered in the night sky.

That, and until Sokka’s stomach rumbled in disapproval.

“What if we got going and went to grab a bite? It’s getting late and I’m starving.”

“You’re always starving,” Zuko commented, in equal measure tired and fond.

“Point taken. Still hungry.”

“Fine, fine. Italian?”

“Sure, love.”

If Zuko were to say that his heart didn’t skip a beat, he would be lying. He was glad that he wasn’t. After all, he had a boyfriend that loved him, and friends that cared about him too, to make new, better memories with.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! Comments are always welcome :)  
> (Also, what do you all think of the paragraph spacing? Is it easy to read?)
> 
> Stay safe everyone.


End file.
